Update February 2021
Join Us for Our Annual Meeting
Our United Way annual meeting will take place Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 12 P.M.
To honor safety guidelines, our meeting will take place online only. We hope you will join us remotely.
Reach out to lindsay@uwayknox.org to RSVP and obtain the link to participate.
2021 Investment Agenda
2021 United Way Investment Applications have been received and reviewed. Program representatives have presented to the Community Impact Panel and Community Investment Committee.

The feedback that the Community Investment Panel provided after application review and presentation process has been shared with the Community Investment Committee. Our Committee made funding recommendations which were reviewed and finalized by our United Way of Knox County Ohio, Inc. Board of Directors.

The new 2021 Investment Agenda has been approved! We are excited to share this with our community partners.
It is a long, objective process with many community stakeholders involved. We rely on the community to guide funding partnership decisions.

Learning Healthy Habits with Crunch Out
Crunch Out Knox County teaches 4th grade students in Knox County Schools about making healthy food choices and getting physical activity every day. Traditionally, students participate in Crunch Out during physical education class. This year, due to COVID-19 prevention efforts, school looked a little different, and so did the Crunch Out program.

We are proud to share that all 11 of the Elementary Schools who have taken part in Crunch Out in the past participated in the program in Fall 2020 (yes, that is 100%!)

Each of the PE teachers changed the program a little bit to meet the needs of the students and the school. For some this meant a different timeline, for some it meant using online videos, but the program information remained the same.

Every Day!

5 - Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables
2 - Limit screen time to under 2 hours
1 - Move for one hour or more
0 - No sugary drinks or soda
During Crunch Out, students learn how to use an exercise ball as a fitness tool, practice different ball exercises, and receive their own exercise ball to take home and keep. They are encouraged to share program information with their family. By having an exercise ball at home, we hope that the students and family will use it and create new healthy habits together! A training guide - My Everyday Guide to Living Healthy - offers different ball exercises and tips about healthy eating and portion sizes. Students record their nutrition and physical activity in Journals and earn prizes for completing weekly journals and actively participating in gym class. At the end of the program, students complete an essay - "How I Am Living Healthy!" Winners are selected from each classroom and school.
While Essay contest winners will not gather in an end of the program celebration this year, they are each honored at school, receive fun prizes and will be featured in the local news. This year’s Crunch Out Essay winner of Knox County is Nadia Kershner of Fredericktown Elementary School. Fredericktown winners pictured; other images and winning essay are posted online.
Other winners include school winners Owen Undercoffer of East Knox Elementary school, Briley Wagner of Centerburg Elementary School, Nathan Jose of Mount Vernon City School District, Kate Marhefka of St Vincent De Paul School, as well as classroom winners Paizley Barner and Kara Chaffin at East Knox Elementary School, Harrison Kissel and Ashley Whaley at Fredericktown Elementary School, Abby Parks and Marybeth Vines at Centerburg Elementary School, and Jake Hubbard at Mount Vernon City Schools. The contest was a little different than in past years, with Mount Vernon Elementary Schools choosing to make the essay optional and Danville Elementary Schools offering the program without the essay component.

The program would not be possible without participation from the schools and the PE teachers. Our program partners Get Healthy Knox County, YMCA of Mount Vernon, and Knox Public Health provide the resources and feedback necessary to make the program successful. This year was extra special as we welcomed a new program sponsor: The Knox County Foundation.
For more information and program photos from past years, visit uwayknox.org/crunch.
Tax Preparation Assistance to be Offered
Volunteer Knox will be an online county-wide volunteer management platform.

This site will allow organizations in search of volunteers to provide agency information and specific volunteer job descriptions in a central database. Through this same platform, community members and groups can create logins and view, filter, and strategically select opportunities to pursue.
Organizations and volunteers will utilize the tool for free under one United Way of Knox County Ohio, Inc. agreement. Contact United Way of Knox County Ohio, Inc. Program Director for more information!